Electric cable and connector arrangement

ABSTRACT

An electric cable and connector arrangement in which a harness is fastened to the electric wires of the data transmission cable to hold the electric wires in a row, for enabling the electric wires to be accurately and quickly arranged in respective wire grooves of a wire distribution plate of the electric connector, and the connector head of the electric connector has two bottom mounting legs respectively plugged into respective plug holes in the housing of the electric connector.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an electric cable and connectorarrangement and, more particularly, to such an electric cable andconnector arrangement, in which harness means is installed in the datatransmission cable to hold the electric wires in a row so that theelectric wires can accurately and quickly be installed in respectivewire grooves on of the wire distribution plate of the electricconnector.

FIG. 1 shows an electric cable and connector arrangement for datatransmission according to the prior art. According to this arrangement,the electric connector, referenced by 10′, comprises a housing 20′defining a receiving chamber 22′, a wire distribution plate 40′, aholding-down plate 44′, and a connector head 50′. The cable, referencedby 30′, is inserted from the rear side of the housing 20′ into thereceiving chamber 22′, comprising a set of electric wires 32′, and analuminum foil layer 38′ embedded within the outer insulative layerthereof and wrapped on the electric wires 32′. The wire distributionplate 40′ and the holding-down plate 44′ each have a plurality of wiregrooves 48′ respectively arranged at the top or bottom side. Theelectric wires 32′ of the cable 30′ are respectively mounted in the wiregrooves 48′ of the wire distribution plate 40′ and the holding-downplate 44′. The holding-down plate 44′ is fastened to the wiredistribution plate 40′ to hold down the electric wires 32′ of the cable30′ in the wire grooves 48′. The wire-distribution plate 40′ comprises aplurality of pin holes 42′. The holding-down plate 44′ comprises aplurality of bottom pins 46′ respectively press-fitted into the pinholes42′ of the wire distribution plate 40′. The connector head 50′ comprisesa set of contact pins 51′ for power and data signal transmission. Thecontact pins 51′ each have a sharp, notched bottom mounting end adaptedfor connecting to the conductor of each electric wire 32′ of the cable30′. After the holding-down plate 44′ and the wire distribution plate40′ had been fastened together to hold down the electric wires 32′ ofthe cable 30′, the connector head 50′ is fastened to the housing 20′ andcovered on the receiving chamber 22′ to force the contact pins 52′against the electric wires 32′, and therefore the sharp, notched bottomend of each contact pin 52′ pierces the insulator of each electric wire32′ of the cable 30′ to achieve a respective electric contact. Thiscable and connector arrangement still has drawbacks as outlinedhereinafter:

1. Because the electric wires 32′ go off in different directions afterthe outer insulator and aluminum foil layer 39 of the cable 30′ had beencut off at a distance, it takes much time to arrange the electric wires32′ in the wire grooves 48′ of the wire distribution plate 40′ and theholding-down plate 44′, and the electric wires 32′ may be erroneouslyarranged in wrong positions.

2. The complicated procedure of the arrangement of the electric wires32′ affects the speed of the processing work and the quality of thefinished product.

3. After connection of the connector head 50′ to the housing 20′, anadditional encapsulation or fixation procedure is required to fixedlysecure the housing 20′ and the connector head 50′ together.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has been accomplished to provide an electric cableand connector arrangement, which eliminates the aforesaid drawbacks. Itis one object of the present invention to provide an electric cable andconnector arrangement, which keeps the electric wires of the cable in arow for quick installation. It is another object of the presentinvention to provide an electric cable and connector arrangement, whichkeeps the electric wires of the cable in a line so that the electricwires can be accurately positioned without causing a contact error.According to one aspect of the present invention, a harness is fastenedto the electric wires of the data transmission cable to hold theelectric wires in a row, for enabling the electric wires to be quicklyarranged in respective wire grooves of a wire distribution plate of theelectric connector. Because the electric wires of the data transmissioncable is held in a row by the harness, the electric wires can beaccurately arranged in the respective wire grooves in the wiredistribution plate and the holding-down plate of the electric connector.According to another aspect of the present invention, the housing of theelectric connector comprises two plugholes longitudinally arranged inparallel, and the connector head of the electric connector has twobottom mounting legs respectively plugged into the plugholes of thehousing by force. After press-fitting the mounting legs of the connectorhead into the plugholes of the housing, the electric connector is wellassembled, and no additional encapsulation procedure is needed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an exploded view of an electric cable and connectorarrangement according to the prior art.

FIG. 2 illustrates a harness fastened to the electric wires of thecable, and the electric wires held in a row.

FIG. 3 is an exploded view of an electric cable and connectorarrangement according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is similar to FIG. 3 but showing the electric wires of the cablefastened to the wire distribution plate.

FIG. 5 is similar to FIG. 4 but showing the holding-down plate fastenedto the wire distribution plate.

FIG. 6 is similar to FIG. 5 but showing the connector head fastened tothe holding-down plate and the wire distribution plate.

FIG. 7 is an elevational view showing the cable and connectorarrangement assembled.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to FIG. 3, the present invention comprises an electricconnector 12, and a data transmission cable 36. The electric connector12 comprises a housing 20 defining a receiving chamber 22, a wiredistribution plate 40, a holding-down plate 44, and a connector head 50.

Referring to FIG. 2, the data transmission cable 36 comprises a set ofelectric wires 32 covered within an outer insulator thereof, and analuminum foil layer 38 embedded within the outer insulator and wrappedon the electric wires 32. Further, a harness 34 is fastened to theelectric wires 32 of the data transmission cable 36 to hold the electricwires 32 positively in a row for quick installation after the aluminumfoil layer 38 and outer insulator of the data transmission cable 36 hadbeen cut at a suitable length.

Referring to FIGS. from 4 through 7 and FIG. 3 again, the datatransmission cable 36 is inserted from the rear side of the housing 20into the receiving chamber 22, and connected to the wire distributionplate 40. The wire distribution plate 40 and the holding-down plate 44each have a plurality of wire grooves 48 respectively arranged at thetop or bottom side and adapted to receive the electric wires 32 of thedata transmission cable 36. After insertion of the data transmissioncable 36 into the receiving chamber 22 of the housing 20, the electricwires 32 of the data transmission cable 36 are respectively arranged inthe wire grooves 48 of the wire distribution plate 40 and theholding-down plate 44. The holding-down plate 44 is fastened to the wiredistribution plate 40 to hold down the electric wires 32 of the datatransmission cable 30 in the wire grooves 48. Because the harness 34holds the electric wires 32 positively in a row, the electric wires 32can easily and quickly be arranged in the wire grooves 48 of the wiredistribution plate 40 and the holding-down plate 44. Thewire-distribution plate 40 comprises a plurality of pinholes 42. Theholding-down plate 44 comprises a plurality of bottom pins 46respectively press-fitted into the pinholes 42 of the wire distributionplate 40. The connector head 50 comprises a set of contact pins 52 forpower and data signal transmission. The contact pins 52 each have asharp, notched bottom mounting end adapted for connecting to theconductor of each electric wire 32 of the cable 30. After theholding-down plate 44 and the wire distribution plate 40 had beenfastened together to hold down the electric wires 32 of the datatransmission cable 36, the connector head 50 is fastened to the housing20 and covered on the receiving chamber 22 to force the contact pins 52against the electric wires 32, and therefore the sharp, notched bottomend of each contact pin 52 pierces the insulator of the respectiveelectric wire 32 of the data transmission cable 36 to achieve arespective electric contact.

Referring to FIGS. 6 and 7 again, the housing 20 comprises two plugholes24 longitudinally arranged in parallel and disposed at two sides of thereceiving chamber 22. The connector head 50 comprises two bottommounting legs 54 respectively plugged into the plugholes 24 by force.

While only one embodiment of the present invention has been shown anddescribed, it will be understood that various modifications and changescould be made thereunto without departing the spirit and scope of theinvention disclosed.

What the invention claimed is:
 1. An electric cable and connectorarrangement of the type comprising: a data transmission cable, said datatransmission cable comprising a set of electric wires covered within anouter insulator thereof, and an aluminum foil layer embedded within saidouter insulator and wrapped on said electric wires; and an electricconnector connected to said data transmission cable, said electricconnector comprising a housing defining a receiving chamber, whichreceives said data transmission cable, a wire distribution plate, saidwire distribution plate comprising a plurality of wire grooves, whichreceive said electric wires of said data transmission cablerespectively, a holding-down plate fastened to said wire distributionplate to hold down said electric wires of said data transmission cablein said wire grooves, and a connector head fastened to said housing andcovered on said receiving chamber, said connector head comprising aplurality of contact pins respectively pierced through insulator meansof said electric wires to contact respective conductors in said electricwires; wherein a harness is fastened to said electric wires of said datatransmission cable to hold said electric wires in a row for enablingsaid electric wires to be arranged in said wire grooves of said wiredistribution plate and said holding-down plate respectively; saidhousing comprises two plug holes longitudinally arranged in parallel anddisposed at two sides of said receiving chamber for receiving saidconnector head; said connector head comprises two bottom mounting legsrespectively plugged into said plug holes of said housing by force.